Scientists of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia have been able to transform the infrared energy emitted from the earth, which is heated by the sun, into electricity, according to the university's website.
Scientists used a mechanical tunnel methodology to extract electricity from the infrared radiation. Most of the sunlight that reaches the earth is absorbed by the seas, oceans and the atmosphere. As a result, earth receives a large amount of infrared radiation. Scientists estimated that millions of gigawatts of energy per second can be extracted from the infrared radiation.
Previously, scientists were unable to extract electricity from the Earth’s heat, but those at KAUST were able to solve the dilemma.
Under the supervision of the professor Atif Shamim, they managed to collect and extract electrical energy from the Earth’s heat using a diode-based device.
“We could have millions of such devices connected to boost overall electricity generation,” Shamim said.
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